Monaco 2 makes an unexpected reappearance 12 years after the original stole its way onto our screens

For the last few days, I’ve been searching the darkest corners of the internet for my 2013 review of the original Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine. Alas, I can’t find it anywhere, but let me summarise it for you — back then, there were a lot fewer games, and high quality indie titles were still relatively few and far between, but Monaco was one of them. In the twelve years that have passed, I haven’t thought much about this fantastic little heist game, but the release of Monaco 2 is more than welcome. 

Monaco 2 is a game about infiltrating increasingly complex levels, locating the items you need to progress towards your main objective, stealing whatever that is and getting out without being caught. You can play through a chunky campaign (complete with a decent but quite bonkers story), a selection of daily heists, or a procedurally generated one-off mission. As soon as you complete the basic variant of any story mission (to a certain grade) then you can also replay it with new modifiers, and any mode can be played online or via split-screen cooperatively.

This gives Monaco 2 a really nice difficulty curve. Relatively inexperienced or even plain bad players can succeed at the most basic level, but it takes real skill to get through a mission — even one of the early ones — at high speed and without raising the alarm. There are several characters to choose from at the outset of the game (which increases as you progress) and each one has their own specific strength. It’s a genius move to allow players to change character at certain points within a mission, as it means that you can experiment with different skills at different times for the very best runs.

Where Monaco was minimalist and relatively simple in design, Monaco 2 takes things in another direction, with the three-dimensional levels now featuring several floors, and enemies, collectibles and other threats increasing rapidly in number and variety. There are civilians to avoid, as well as several variants of guard that each pose an increasing threat, and then there are cameras, alarm systems, doors that can be unlocked (and those with inbuilt alarms). It’s a lot to take in at first, but as these things are all relatively familiar ideas, you get used to it quickly.

To counter these threats, the player can access a variety of tools around each level. There are disguises, lockpicks, wrenches, first aid kits, stun darts and loads more, most of which are again fairly intuitive. I didn’t especially like that Monaco 2 doesn’t really explain any of these mechanics — whether features of the level or of the things scattered around them. I did see the odd pop up, but nothing hung around long enough for me to read, and nor do I recall being told how the coins that are scattered around every level would be used to “purchase” these items that seem to simply be scattered willy-nilly.

This all makes Monaco 2 very abstract in feeling. The story is unbelievably bonkers and never feels particularly believable or immersive — but it doesn’t need to. Rather, the campaign mode just serves as a method to show you all of Monaco 2’s tricks, and present you with a playground to test everything you might want to, whether that be the items available to you or the combination of characters in your team. 

Played purely solo, Monaco 2 is fairly good fun. I managed to get most of the way through the campaign before I felt that it was outstaying its welcome a bit, and even then I took the time to go back and replay some of the earlier levels with the variable rules to eke out a little more interest. The story felt so disconnected from reality to me that the procedurally generated levels were just as good as those in the main story, and I have to say that if I were a more dedicated Monaco 2 player, I’d be loving the infinite options available to me.

There is one issue for solo players though, and that (for me at least) was the difficulty as things ramp up. Monaco 2 can feel quite difficult at times, with the challenge not being specifically down to skill level or because of a pre-set challenge, but more because a certain set of circumstances just happen to conspire against a lone player. With that said, I’m not trying to say that Monaco 2 is specifically designed for cooperative play, but…

Online and offline cooperative modes are where Monaco 2 really shines, with two player split screen supported offline, and support for up to four players available over the internet. I haven’t been able to try it at the full complement of players, but based on the two player experience, it should be quite enjoyable. At two players, and specifically when played with someone in the same room, Monaco 2 is an absolute hoot — mainly because no matter how much “planning” Monaco 2 tells you that you’ll need to do, the most you’ll actually do is shout at each other about who should be doing what exactly now before it all goes completely pear shaped.

Whether solo or cooperative, it’s perhaps “going pear shaped” that Monaco 2 does best — much like the original did. You can plan the perfect way through a floor and even execute it flawlessly, but sooner or later, someone is going to see you, a guard will kick off and before you know it, you’re being chased by three or four of them. There is little to no opportunity for direct combat in Monaco 2, with only one character being able to fight (and a few options for it via either items or trinkets — an unlockable enhancement).

That’s fine though, because running is often a lot more fun, especially as you and a pal scatter in different directions, collecting more guards and startling onlookers as you go. A long mission in Monaco 2 can take about half an hour, but that’s fine thanks to liberal placement of checkpoints. There’s probably a measure in there somewhere for better or even perfect scores where these aren’t needed (and I’m all for that) but for players like me, I like being able to make a bit of progress, make a total mess of something and then get back to it without losing too much of my progress.

Monaco 2 is a strong return to form then. A cooperative heist game that works fine with just one player and really well with two (or probably more), this is a game that has obviously been crafted with a lot of love. The campaign mode features a lot of curated content, whilst the procedurally generated levels add loads of depth and replayability to the mix for more long term interest and the particularly dedicated player. The new visual style is a bit more complex and can take some getting used to, but it’s also modernised and perfectly good looking in its own right. 

Monaco 2 is available now for PC, Xbox One Series S/X, PS5 and Nintendo Switch.